Underfloor heating is an ideal way to heat a private house. It is much more practical, environmentally friendly and economical than a standard radiator system, but it requires more effort during installation. The warm floor creates ideal convection in the house - the heated air from the entire surface of the floor rises up, without being drained from the radiators and without heating the walls and ceiling. And walking on a warm surface is very comfortable and pleasant - you will never freeze, and your baby will be able to safely play on the floor even in the harshest winter!

Underfloor heating in a private house can be of two types:

• electric;
• water.

As a rule, electric underfloor heating is rarely used in cottages due to its disadvantages: high power consumption, small heated area, high probability of its failure. Typically, such a system is used in apartments or small rooms: restroom, bathroom, hallway. The advantage of the electric floor is that it is very easy to install - just spread the sheets on a flat surface, lay linoleum or laminate on top, connect and use.

Underfloor heating in a private house is the best solution!

A water heated floor is much more difficult to install - it requires the creation of high-quality insulation, pouring the screed and connecting the collector. At the same time, it is designed for long-term operation (with proper installation, the system lasts more than 30 years), has low inertia (a well-heated floor holds heat well and does not require constant supply of new portions of hot water).

Note: it is advisable to equip a warm floor in rooms with an area of ​​\u200b\u200bmore than 15 square meters. At the same time, it is not necessary to lay pipes all over the base - subtract the area of ​​\u200b\u200bfurniture and decorative elements.

water floor

Using this system, you can eliminate pipes and radiators along the walls and under the ceiling. A water heated floor is the only way to equip “French windows” (from the floor). They can also save you a lot of money. The fact is that one circuit is allocated for each room - if you do not use any rooms, you can turn them off altogether or set the minimum value for the consumption of warm water.

Methods for arranging a water system

There are three ways to install the system:

• on the ground;
• on a concrete slab (base);
• on the wooden floor.

Less often used laying on a wooden floor. Usually it is torn off, a screed is poured under it and then a system is created. But there are also less expensive options, when the insulation and pipes are located directly on the finished floor, and are poured from above with self-leveling mixtures or screed. The main disadvantage of this solution is a significant thickening of the flooring and a decrease in the usable volume of the floor.

Laying pipes in special shapes on a wooden floor

Most often, the installation of a warm floor in a private house occurs on the ground. First, the top layer is removed, then a pillow of pure sand (up to 10 centimeters) is poured on it, it is compacted with crushed stone (7-10 cm of fine fraction), a waterproofing material is spread (roofing material or a special membrane). A rough screed is arranged on top, on which insulation and pipes are placed.

If the house has concrete slabs or a screed is poured, then the process is greatly facilitated - you only have to level the base and repair any large cracks with a sand-cement mixture.

Creation principle

After you have prepared the base, you need to:

1. Create high-quality waterproofing screed. Roll out roofing material or other insulating materials on the surface. Be sure to lay roll on roll at least 10 centimeters and glue them together (resin, adhesive tape, special glue for membranes, high temperature).
2. Create an insulating layer. It is needed so that the cold from below does not penetrate into the room, and the heat from the pipes does not go to the depth. As a heater, high-density foam or extruded polystyrene foam is usually used. The thickness of the insulation layer depends on many factors: the location of the house, the power of the system, the coefficient of thermal insulation, etc. Usually they try to make this layer at least 5 centimeters thick.
3. Make high-quality vapor barrier. It is necessary so that condensation does not form on top of the insulation. For this, either a conventional polyethylene film or a special membrane is used. It is also necessary to lay these materials with overlapping and insulating seams.
4. Create a reinforcing mesh. Usually, a road grid with cells measuring 100 by 100 mm or 150 by 150 mm is used for this.
5. Lay pipes. Usually, classic metal-plastic pipes are used to create a warm floor. It is necessary to lay them on the surface so that there are no joints in the future screed. The length of the pipe should not exceed 75-80 meters (with a longer length, the coolant has time to cool down and the floor warms up unevenly). If you are missing a piece of 870 meters, then create two branches. Pipes can be attached to fittings with clamps.
6. Fill the pipes with screed or self-leveling compounds. Wait for it to dry completely - and your system will be completely ready!

Filling pipes with cement-sand screed

Note: you can fill the screed only after you have filled the system with water and created working pressure in it. If there are no leaks anywhere, then do not drain the water and do not relieve pressure until the screed has hardened. This will prevent the pipe from deforming.

The last step in installing a water-heated floor in a private house is laying the finish coat. It can be linoleum, laminate, parquet, carpet, ceramic tiles, etc.

Little tricks

1. Remember to use damper tape - it will allow this "layered cake" to expand and contract freely with thermal expansion. It is glued around the entire perimeter of the room at the stage of arranging the first screed
2. The pipes brought out are connected to the collector (comb). Do not save on it, because it is the comb that controls your entire system. With the help of valves on it, you can adjust the flow (temperature) of the water passing through the branch.
3. The thickness of the final screed should not exceed 60 mm. Add a special plasticizer for underfloor heating to it - it will give it elasticity, strength and resistance to temperature extremes.
4. On top of the screed can be covered with plastic wrap. This will protect the surface from drying out. If there is no film, then regularly moisten the surface with water (at least once a day).
5. You can start the system no earlier than after 4-5 days (during this time the cement-sand mixture will harden). It is not recommended to overheat the floor so that cracks do not appear on it.

Collector - the junction of all pipes

Manifold balancing

Warm floors in a private house rarely have an equal length of contours in different rooms. To equalize the water pressure, collectors (combs) are used, which allow you to adjust the temperature in different branches. To adjust the temperature regime, you need to remove the protective caps and use the valves to equalize the pressure of the passing stream. If necessary, you can block some circuits altogether if you are not using the premises.